“A’Ci, do you want to read?” Ying Sisi finally couldn’t bear the silence any longer and broke the quiet in the room.
Qin Yanci reluctantly let go of her hand. “Yes.”
The entrance exam was scheduled for July, and it was already the end of January. He didn’t have much time left.
Moreover, from the first to the fifth day of every month, another personality would take control of his body.
They did not share memories.
He had to write down everything he experienced during this period—except for getting married—to inform the other personality.
Ying Sisi walked over to the coffee table and sat down, properly holding the book he had bought for her.
The title on the cover read: Circle.
What a strange title.
As soon as she opened the first page, she found many words she couldn’t recognize.
Even the ones she could read made no sense to her because she had no idea what the author was describing.
For example, Georgian style.
Or French floor-to-ceiling windows.
Every unfamiliar term reminded her of the gap between herself and Qin Yanci.
She shifted her gaze from the book to him.
He sat in the chair opposite her, dressed in a neat black cashmere sweater and matching trousers.
His legs were slightly apart, his head lowered.
His long, well-defined fingers held the corner of a book, giving him the refined air of a scholar.
Then she looked at herself.
A worn rose-red sweater covered in pilling.
A pair of dull gray pants.
She looked so rustic.
So rustic that she couldn’t help feeling ashamed.
“A’Ci, I just remembered there’s something I need to take care of at home. I won’t disturb you any longer.”
Qin Yanci looked up.
She had only just sat down, and now she wanted to leave?
Was she going home to prepare for the New Year?
She had just finished setting up her street stall. Couldn’t she rest for a while?
“You’re busy from morning till night. Aren’t you tired?”
“Not at all. Back in the village, I was much busier than this. In summer I’d cut pig grass, carry chicken manure, dig irrigation ditches. In winter I’d chop firewood and haul water. I’d be busy all day.”
What she really meant was:
My world is nothing more than a tiny patch of countryside, with chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep.
The women you’ll meet in the future will be just like you—educated, working in offices, holding pens instead of farm tools, directing others.
Right now you’re only listening to your parents. Sooner or later you’ll regret it. It’s better for us to separate now than for you to complain later that we have nothing in common, saying I’m not good enough at this or that.
“The work at the farm isn’t much different,” Qin Yanci said. “It’s been hard on you. In the future, I won’t let you suffer like that anymore.”
Ying Sisi was speechless.
She had hoped he would start looking down on her.
Instead, he was making promises to her.
Wasn’t he a fool?
Before leaving, she still couldn’t help worrying about him. She took a flaky pastry from her pocket and placed it in front of him.
“Eat it if you get hungry.”
Qin Yanci smiled, his eyes filled with warmth.
“Okay.”
After leaving the residential compound, Ying Sisi didn’t head straight home.
Instead, she went to the department store and used the fabric coupon Li Junlu had given her when she first arrived in the capital to buy a roll of cloth.
She planned to make herself a decent outfit to wear while visiting relatives during the New Year.
After choosing the fabric, she also bought some cotton stuffing.
Then she purchased a skein of yarn, intending to knit Qin Yanci a pair of gloves as a New Year’s gift.
The one yuan and eighty cents she had earned was gone in an instant.
Money really didn’t last.
The sky had been gloomy all day.
By dusk, snowflakes drifted down one after another, quickly covering the ground with a blanket of white.
There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets.
Li Yuwei kept glancing toward the door.
“Big Sister went out early this morning without saying a word. I wonder what she’s been doing. It’s almost dark and she’s still not back. Dad, should we go look for her?”
“Look for what?” Song Hanmei’s voice was full of contempt for Ying Sisi. “She’s definitely with that Qin boy. Even if they’re already married, she shouldn’t be running to a man’s house every other day. What kind of behavior is that?”
Li Yuwei, however, believed Ying Sisi had been kept there by Qin Yanci.
She was probably suffering right now.
Li Junlu also looked displeased.
“She’s already a grown woman, yet she has no sense of shame. Just wait until she gets back—I’ll teach her a lesson.”